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Kinsi
}} The Kinsi (キンシ) is a 3×4 strut folding camera, made by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō (now Ricoh) from 1941 to c.1943. Made by Riken: , item 165. This page of the Ricoh official website says otherwise, certainly by mistake. It was produced in Riken's Ōji plant. Arimura, p.6 of no.14. See also the Semi Kinsi, a 4.5×6 bakelite camera, variant of the New Olympic II. Name The name Kinsi (pronounced kinshi) can be written 金鵄, then meaning "golden kite". This page of the Ricoh official website gives the word 金鴉 (read kin'a), certainly by mistake. says that the name comes from the Kinshi kunshō (金鵄勲章) or "Order of the Golden Kite", a Japanese military award. , p.11. For a description of the military award, see this Japanese Wikipedia page and this English Wikipedia page. Riken used many such "patriotic" names at the time. See this article of the Ricoh official website. In all the advertisements observed, the name is written in katakana: キンシ. On the camera itself, it is written "Kinsi". The camera is called "Baby Kinshi" by mistake in , item 1076 and in , p.828. Description The Kinsi is a strut folding camera, inspired by the Dolly 3×4 camera made by the German company Certo. This page of the Ricoh official website says that the Kinsi was a copy of the Zeh Goldi, that is obviously not true, the Goldi being of the folding bed type. Tanaka, p.18 of no.14 and this page at Asacame say that it is a copy of the Dolly. The camera has a folding optical finder in the middle of the top plate, and the advance knob is on the left, as seen by the photographer. The front standard is opened by a button on the right of the viewfinder, easily confused for a shutter release. There is a folding leg, allowing the camera to stand vertically on a table. The name Kinsi is embossed in the front leather. The back is hinged to the left and retained by a sliding button on the right. It contains two uncovered red windows to control the film advance. The shutter is an everset Licht, made by Seikōsha, providing 25, 50, 100, B, T speeds. This variant of the Licht shutter has a thread and needle release device (a crude replacement for a self-timer). The lens is a front-cell focusing Kinsi Anastigmat 5cm f/4.5. It has three elements and was made by Riken. , lens item Jc11. Lens numbers are known with five digits; they are mostly in the 10xxx to 16xxx range, but at least one example perhaps has a number in the 20xxx range. Examples observed in online auctions, and in the links and printed sources listed below. Advertisements and other documents The Kinsi was announced in advertisements for the Olympic Four dated March and April 1940, together with the Gaica and Roico. Advertisement in March 1940, reproduced in , p.104, and advertisement in April 1940, p.A86, reproduced in , p.64. In these documents, the camera is only announced for future release (予告); no price is indicated and no picture is provided. The camera appears in the official list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and in January 1941, under the name "Kinsi I" (¥48). , type 1, section 4B. Pictures of the Kinsi are displayed in advertisements dated January and February 1941 for the Riken camera range, with no further detail. Advertisement in Gakusei no Kagaku January 1941 and advertisement in Gakusei no Kagaku February 1941, reproduced in the Gochamaze website. In advertisements dated February and April 1941, the camera is described as Kinsi I (キンシⅠ型), and offered for (case ¥5.70 extra). Advertisement in February 1941, reproduced in , p.104; advertisement in April 1941, p.509; advertisement in Gakusei no Kagaku April 1941, reproduced in the Gochamaze website. Advertisements dated March, October and November 1942, show the higher price of . Advertisement in March 1942, reproduced in Tanaka, p.10 of no.14; advertisement in October 1942, reproduced in , p.58; advertisement in Asahi Graph, 18 November 1942, reproduced in the Gochamaze website. The camera still appears in the April 1943 government inquiry on Japanese camera production, again under the name "Kinsi I". , item 165. There is no record of a Kinsi II. Pictures Notes Bibliography Original documents * . Advertisement by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō in April 1940, p.A86. * . Advertisement by Doi Shōten in April 1941, p.509. * Item 165. * Type 1, section 4B. Recent sources * Arimura Katsumi (有村克巳). "Rikō Ryakushi" (リコー略史, Ricoh short history). Pp.6–7. * Item 70. (See also the advertisements for items 47 and 323–4.) * Fujishima Kōichi (藤島広一). "Shattā ni yoru nendai shibetsu" (シャッターによる年代識別, Dating a camera from its shutter). Pp.21–4. (Contains a picture of a Kinsi but no other detail.) * P.828. * Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.25. * Item 1076. * Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Rikō kamera no nagare" (リコーカメラの流れ, Evolution of the Ricoh cameras). Pp.8–11. * Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Senzen no kamera 2: Supuringu kamera" (戦前のカメラ2・スプリングカメラ, Prewar cameras 2: folding cameras). Pp.16–9. Links In Japanese: * Pages of the Ricoh official website: ** Kinsi in the camera list (copied in this page of the Kitamura Camera Museum) ** article about wartime camera names * Pages at Asacame: ** Riken 127 film cameras ** Page with a Kinsi in the A-Z 127 film cameras * Prewar Japanese 127 camera page including the Kinsi, and a page about the thread-and-pin selftimer at Nekosan's site (with some English) * Kinsi in the Kitamura Camera Museum * Advertisements reproduced in the Japanese camera page, the small format camera page and the camera company page of the Gochamaze website: ** Advertisement for the Riken range picturing a Kinsi, published in the January 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku ** Advertisement for the Riken range picturing a Kinsi, published in the February 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku ** Advertisement for the Kinsi I and Olympic Four published in the April 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku ** Advertisement for the Kinsi I published in the 18 November 1942 issue of Asahi Graph Category: Japanese 3x4 viewfinder folding Category: 3x4 strut folding Category: Ricoh Category: K